San Fierro
San Fierro, San Andreas is the second fictional city encountered in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, and is based on real-life San Francisco, California. San Fierro is the smallest metropolitan area in San Andreas, but the most urbanized, and is situated on a peninsula on the western part of the state. South of the city lies the massive Mount Chiliad and the small town of Angel Pine in Whetstone. To the north of the city, across a re-creation of the famous Golden Gate Bridge (Gant Bridge), lies the town of Bayside, and northeast of the city lies the county of Tierra Robada. San Fierro is a moderately sized city with the beautiful San Fierro Bay to the north and The Panopticon to the east. San Fierro is connected to Los Santos and Las Venturas by road, rail and air. There is a sizeable country club complete with a golf course within San Fierro. In addition to this, San Fierro has a district marked by rainbow signs that is meant to emulate San Francisco's famous Castro District, home to a sizeable gay population. San Fierro is also home to the football team, the San Fierro 69ers, a double entendre referring to both the San Francisco 49ers and the "69" sexual position. Furthermore, in a crude reference to anal sex, the city's baseball team, the San Fierro Packers, is sponsored by none other than Fierro Fudge. The city bears visible scars of an earthquake, a likely reference to the Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989, 3 years before the game takes place, though dialogue suggests that an earthquake has occurred just recently. The most obvious sign of the intense damage is the crumbled section of freeway lying to the immediate west of Garver Bridge's San Fierro approach, which is an apparent emulation of the damage done to San Francisco's Embarcadero Freeway, whose remnants could be seen for years after the earthquake. The freeway section does not seem to have any visible connection to the existing freeway, however. The city's infrastructure and buildings are not visibly damaged from the earthquake, the only such damage being in the Doherty area. Weather San Fierro commonly experiences rainstorms. These, combined with the frequent late-night and early-morning fog, can make driving and flying difficult because of reduced visibility. To further complicate the city's weather patterns, the Tierra Robada sandstorms occasionally blow into the northeastern parts of San Fierro, making flying near the Garver Bridge and Downtown skyline extremely treacherous Landmark *The Golden Gate Bridge makes an appearance as the Gant Bridge. This bridge links San Fierro and the town of Bayside. The bridge appears to have functioning tollbooths, as evidenced by the fact that cars heading into San Fierro stop at the toll plaza. However, the player is apparently immune to the toll, not having to pay it. Gant Bridge extends over San Fierro Bay, which is a re-creation of San Francisco Bay, and physically separates San Fierro from Bayside and Tierra Robada. *The San Francisco Bay Bridge makes an appearance as the Garver Bridge. This bridge links San Fierro and Tierra Robada near Las Venturas. Alongside the Garver Bridge is the Kincaid Bridge, which is modeled after the Forth Rail Bridge, which itself sits beside the Forth Road Bridge outside Edinburgh, Scotland. This may also be a reference to the home of Rockstar North, where the original bridges are located. The Forth Road Bridge and the western span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge look remarkably similar. *The Transamerica Pyramid is re-created as the Big Pointy Building, the base of the building surrounded by somewhat humorous signs. One can travel to the top for a bird's eye view of San Fierro. One parachute (and only one, so exercise caution) is provided, in case players have the urge to jump off. *Lombard Street, known as the "crookedest street", appears as Windy Windy Windy Windy Street in San Fierro's Calton Heights. *Fort Point makes an appearance as Battery Point in the game, which sits underneath Gant Bridge. However, the fort has been taken over by the pimp Jizzy B, and is known as Jizzy's Pleasure Domes. *The Castro district is emulated as "Queens", a tongue-in-cheek reference to the neighborhood as being the heart of San Francisco's gay community. *San Fierro City Hall, based on the Beaux-Arts styled San Francisco City Hall, is located at the west end of Queens. *A replica of Mount Sutro's radio antenna (Sutro Tower) is located atop Missionary Hill, at the south end of San Fierro. An observation area is located nearby, offering a pristine view of the city's southern side. *Foster Valley, located between Missionary Hill and Easter Bay Airport, may be inspired from planned cities such as Foster City (which may explain the origin of the name as well). The contemporary buildings in the area, as well as a row of identical cylindrical buildings along an artificial lake, mildly resemble Oracle Corporation's World Headquarters at Redwood Shores, Redwood City, which is, coincidentally, also located near Foster City. Other landmarks *Forth Bridge *Ferry Building *Grace Cathedral *Golden Gate Park *Fort Mason *Presidio of San Francisco *Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption *San Francisco Opera *San Francisco cable car system *Great Highway Getting around Although cars are prominent, there are cable cars (trams) that circle San Fierro. Players are, however, unable to ride them, as they are literally unstoppable, and will plow through any obstacle without incurring damage. The Brown Streak Railroad stops at Doherty's Cranberry Station across from CJ's garage. The Easter Bay Airport is located at the southeast of the city, off Exit 3, the second to last exit, from the Garver Bridge Approach. Trivia Although some landmarks might have been in the Beta, one landmark (Alcatraz) was going to appear in the game but was deleted for unknown reasons. Proof of this can be seen at the map at Toreno's ranch & Lil' Probe'Inn. Category:Places in San Andreas Category:Cities in San Andreas